Wildlife

Japan to Resume Commercial Whaling

Japan is withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission and will resume commercial whaling next year, a government spokesman has announced.

The move on Wednesday came more than three months after the global body for the conservation of whales rejected a Tokyo-led proposal to lift a 32-year ban on the commercial hunting of the ocean mammals.

"We have decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission in order to resume commercial whaling in July next year," Yoshihide Suga, top spokesperson for the Japanese government, told reporters. Suda said commercial whaling "will be limited to Japan's territorial waters and exclusive economic zones".